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America’s Cup 2017: Once rivals, now Giles Scott and Ben Ainslie find themselves in the same boat
It never went as far as hatred, but the dislike on the water between Giles Scott and Ben Ainslie was genuine as they battled for the sole sailing spot in their class at their home Olympic Games of 2012.
From foes to friends: Scott pushed Ainslie to such an extent that the former is now calling the shots to his skipper, to a certain extent, ahead of the America’s Cup, which begins today providing gale force winds in Bermuda subside.
Scott is the strategist for Land Rover Ben Ainslie Racing (BAR) - the British entry in the competition - and with that comes the opportunity to occasionally boss the helmsman around.
“Sometimes I’ll tell him what to do, but mostly it’s a guiding role,” says Scott at the team’s base. “He needs someone he trusts to stop him looking around, so that he’s dialled into the boat. Roughly speaking, I direct when and where and what the best path is, and where we need to be.
“He has the final say on everything as he has the wheel in his hand, but my role lets him look after fighting with the other competitors. I’m his overview and racing soundboard.”
Scott is amused by the fascination with his relationship with Ainslie - and the fact it cost him a shot at Olympic gold in the Portland waters which are overlooked by the Scott family home.
“It never came to hatred but it would certainly be fair to say we disliked each other quite a lot on the water,” he says. “We’d have screaming matches on the water and then be sat around the dinner table.”
From Great Britain’s sailing base in the UK to the Great Sound - the crystal blue waters where the America’s Cup will play out - mealtimes are now considerably more affable between the pair, but Scott admits there are still raised voices.
“Ben does get shouty but I’m so used to it and I’ve seen it so much over the years... so, in all honesty, I don’t notice it,” he adds. “He does lose his rag every now and again, and everything said about him being two different people on and off the water is true. You ask him about it and he’s a bit embarrassed.
“But the way he operates, he’s very capable of responding to a big situation. He’ll shout and scream and lose his rag, but his reset is immediate.
“If I saw it for the first time I’d probably be a bit shocked, but it’s effective - and the important bit is what happens immediately after it. He has a very good handle on it.”
Scott is still on the crest of a wave. He barely had two weeks off after winning sailing gold in the Finn class for Team GB at the 2016 Olympics before jumping ship to an infinitely bigger one: the 45ft hydrofoiling beasts that are being used in the America’s Cup.
Post-Rio, Scott seems like a late addition, but he was signed by the team in its relative infancy, in October 2014, having had the gumption to call up Ainslie and explain he’d had approaches from other Cup rivals.
THE SCHEDULE
Friday May 26
Qualifiers are due to begin, with Land Rover BAR taking on Artemis Racing.
Saturday June 3
The top four qualifiers, excluding holders Oracle Team USA, advance to the challenger play-off semi-finals — head-to-heads of nine races in a week.
Saturday June 10
The two semi-final winners battle it out over nine races in three days, with the winner taking on defenders Oracle.
Saturday June 17
The America’s Cup match itself begins as Oracle and skipper Jimmy Spithill bid for a hat-trick of victories.
Scott came into the then temporary base on an industrial estate in Portsmouth and signed a contract 10 days later. As for why he picked Land Rover BAR, he is unequivocal.
“If you’re a sailor and Ben wants you to sail with him, you’re not going to say no, even if you have racing history,” he says. “Our past built up respect. If you’d asked us both in 2012, the answer might not have been the same but, once the dust settled, it’s water under the bridge. I have nothing but respect and admiration for what he’s trying to do and has done.”
As well as something to shift his focus to in the post-Rio haze, the job security also enabled Scott to bankroll an Olympic campaign that he estimates cost him £80,000 a year of his own funds in the lead-up to the Games.
“I basically spent everything I had - and the America’s Cup enabled me to have that,” he says.
Such cost considerations make him think twice about the next Olympics, in Tokyo in 2020.
As for whether winning the America’s Cup for the first time in British history would top his Olympic gold, he is unsure.
Diplomatically, at least, he says: “It would certainly be up there alongside it.”
